Characterization of the Meteoroid Spatial Flux Density during the 1999 Leonid Storm

The November 18, 1999 Leonid storm was rich in meteors and well observed by airborne intensified video cameras aimed low in the sky which enabled enhanced meteor counts over ground-based observations. The two- and three-dimensional distribution of meteoroids was investigated for signs of clustering that could provide evidence of meteoroid fragmentation shortly after lift-off from the parent comet 55P/Tempel-Tuttle, or much later due to space weathering. Analysis of the video tapes yields a refined estimation of the mass ratio during the peak of s = 1.65 and spatial flux density of 0.5 particles/km² greater than those causing visual magnitude +6.5 during the 5 min centered around the peak of the storm. Furthermore, the projection of the individual trails into three-dimensional Heliocentric coordinates, shows non-homogeneity of the stream on spatial scales from hundreds to thousands of kilometers.     

Biological copper extraction from melting furnaces dust of Sarcheshmeh copper mine

This paper deals with bacterial leaching of copper dust emanating from furnaces at Sarcheshmeh copper complex. Regarding the considerable amount of acid leachable copper, a sulphuric acid leaching process was performed prior to bacterial leaching. Some shake flask and then bioreactor tests were conducted using a mixed culture of Acidithiobacilli and the effect of significant parameters such as culture medium, pulp density and bacterial inoculation rate were investigated. By increasing the pulp density because of higher toxicity and shear stress much more microorganisms and richer nutrient medium were needed. Favoured conditions that governed the agitated bioreactors caused a remarkable promotion in metal dissolution rate in comparison with shake flask. Copper recovery by bacterial leaching in shaking flasks and chemical leaching after 22 d were 87% and 38%, respectively. At the same condition, the maximum copper recovery in bioreactor was 91% within 6.5 d.     

辽东永宁组(群)沉积特征

通过对永宁组沉积序列、沉积特征、沉积环境等研究认为永宁盆地基本保持了原始面貌,为一东高西低的箕形盆地,物源分别由东西侧注入。永宁组沉积前,辽东古陆可能还存在同辽西杨庄组、雾迷山组相当的层位。永宁组主要为河流－冲积扇沉积体系,其中又包含有泥石流、颗粒流、片流、主河道、分枝河道等相体。永宁组是多个扇体相叠加而成的产物,每个大的砾岩层均可代表一次大的洪水事件     

小冰期以来岱海地区的环境变迁与尘暴事件

根据高分辨率的湖泊沉积物粒度、Rb/Sr比、磁化率的综合分析,结合区域降水、历史记载资料,重建了内蒙古岱海地区近500年来以小冰期为特征的、具有100年准周期(经谱分析)的古环境变迁及受其制约发生的尘暴事件历史.结果表明,湖泊沉积物中Rb/Sr比值很好地反映了流域陆地受古环境状态变化控制的化学风化率的历史,而尘暴事件则主要是受冬、夏季风的相对强弱制约的.大量尘暴事件频发于小冰期干冷的气候条件下,表现为流域化学风化强度减弱、沉积物中粗颗粒含量高、中值粒径大.在转暖的现代气候下,尘暴事件很少,化学风化增强,沉积物中的粗颗粒含量及中值粒径也随之降低.但是近十几年,在化学风化仍相对较强的气候条件下,尘暴事件却呈上升趋势,这可能与人类活动造成的温室效应及土地荒漠化有关.     

A distinct class of avalanche scars on Mars

We report observations of a set of surface features on Mars that form a distinct class of avalanche scars. These features have a horizontal scale of hundreds of meters, but a depth scale of meters distinguishes them from the shallower features known as slope streaks. The meters-thick avalanche scars have escaped previous attention because of weak contrast between the interiors of the scarred regions and their surroundings. Often the most visible feature is a shadow cast by the trough wall, a band 1-3 pixels wide in Mars Orbiter Camera narrow angle images, indicating maximum depths of 4-10 m. We investigate the morphology of more than 500 such features. Slopes upon which the avalanches occur average about 27°. Impact craters are seen at the heads of some avalanche scars; this subset exhibits statistically wider opening angles. The scars span an estimated several Ma in age. Those found so far occurred mainly in the Olympus Mons lower aureole. We compare shapes of slope streaks to shapes of meters-thick avalanches, and the results support the notion that the two classes are distinct. The newly-discovered avalanches resemble some terrestrial flows of loose, dry material such as dry snow and glass beads. On the basis of these analogs, we suggest a physical model.     

Thermal conductivity measurements of porous dust aggregates: I. Technique, model and first results

We present a non-invasive technique for measuring the thermal conductivity of fragile and sensitive materials. In the context of planet-formation research, the investigation of the thermal conductivity of porous dust aggregates provide important knowledge about the influence of heating processes, like internal heating by radioactive decay of short-lived nuclei, e.g. ²⁶Al, on the evolution and growth of planetesimals. The determination of the thermal conductivity was performed by a combination of laboratory experiments and numerical simulations. An IR camera measured the temperature distribution of the sample surface heated by a well-characterized laser beam. The thermal conductivity as free parameter in the model calculations, exactly emulating the experiment, was varied until the experimental and numerical temperature distributions showed best agreement. Thus, we determined for three types of porous dust samples, consisting of spherical, 1.5 μm-sized SiO₂ particles, with volume filling factors in the range of 15-54%, the thermal conductivity to be 0.002-0.02 W m⁻¹ K⁻¹, respectively. From our results, we can conclude that the thermal conductivity mainly depends on the volume filling factor. Further investigations, which are planned for different materials and varied contact area sizes (produced by sintering), will prove the appropriate dependencies in more detail.     

Large Eddy Simulation of typical dust devil-like vortices in highly convective Martian boundary layers at the Phoenix lander site

Physical characteristics of naturally formed convective vortices in the Phoenix Mars lander environment have been investigated on a relatively hot summer Martian arctic day. For this, the NCAR LES has been adapted and developed to conduct three micro-scale simulations of the Martian Convective Boundary Layer (CBL), in situations with and without geostrophic wind, and atmospheric radiative flux divergence. Time series analysis of the vortices’ properties is discussed. The study confirms the decrease of vortex populations in windy conditions and also illustrates that intense but small vortices are expected to be observed in higher geostrophic wind situations. This may lead to more dust migration rather than dust devil formation on windy days. The background (geostrophic) wind causes the vortices to become less cyclostrophically balanced.     

Light scattering by complex particles in the Moon's exosphere: Toward a taxonomy of models for the realistic simulation of the scattering behavior of lunar dust

It is suspected that the lunar exosphere has a dusty component dispersed above the surface by various physical mechanisms. Most of the evidence for this phenomenon comes from observations of “lunar horizon glow” (LHG), which is thought to be produced by the scattering of sunlight by this exospheric dust. The characterization of exospheric dust populations at the Moon is key to furthering our understanding of fundamental surface processes, as well as a necessary requirement for the planning of future robotic and human exploration.We present a model to simulate the scattering of sunlight by complex lunar dust grains (i.e. grains that are non-spherical and can be inhomogeneous in composition) to be used in the interpretation of remote sensing data from current and future lunar missions. We numerically model lunar dust grains with several different morphologies and compositions and compute their individual scattering signatures using the Discrete Dipole Approximation (DDA). These scattering properties are then used in a radiative transfer code to simulate the light scattering due to a dust size distribution, as would likely be observed in the lunar exosphere at high altitudes 10's of km. We demonstrate the usefulness and relevance of our model by examining mode: irregular grains, aggregate of spherical monomers and spherical grains with nano-phase iron inclusions. We subsequently simulate the scattering by two grain size distributions (0.1 and radius), and show the results normalized per-grain. A similar methodology can also be applied to the analysis of the LHG observations, which are believed to be produced by scattering from larger dust grains within about a meter of the surface.As expected, significant differences in scattering properties are shown between the analyses employing the widely used Mie theory and our more realistic grain geometries. These differences include large variations in intensity as well as a positive polarization of scattered sunlight caused by non-spherical grains. Positive polarization occurs even when the grain size is small compared to the wavelength of incident sunlight, thus confirming that the interpretation of LHG based on Mie theory could lead to large errors in estimating the distribution and abundances of exospheric dust.     

Spectral properties, magnetic fields, and dust transport at lunar swirls

Lunar swirls are albedo anomalies associated with strong crustal magnetic fields. Swirls exhibit distinctive spectral properties at both highland and mare locations that are plausibly explained by fine-grained dust sorting. The sorting may result from two processes that are fairly well established on the Moon, but have not been previously considered together. The first process is the vertical electrostatic lofting of charged fine dust. The second process is the development of electrostatic potentials at magnetic anomalies as solar wind protons penetrate more deeply into the magnetic field than electrons. The electrostatic potential can attract or repel charged fine-grained dust that has been lofted. Since the finest fraction of the lunar soil is bright and contributes significantly to the spectral properties of the lunar regolith, the horizontal accumulation or removal of fine dust can change a surface’s spectral properties. This mechanism can explain some of the spectral properties of swirls, accommodates their association with magnetic fields, and permits aspects of weathering by micrometeoroids and the solar wind.     

我国北方沙尘天气演变趋势及其气候成因分析

利用地面气象观测资料,分析了我国北方1954～2001年年、季沙尘天气发生日数的演变规律及其与主要气候要素,风速、相对湿度、降水、气温和干燥度的相关关系,用NCEP/NCAR再分析资料分析了冬春气压梯度的变化趋势。结果表明:近50年来,造成我国北方沙尘天气频率显著下降的直接自然原因是沙尘源区和发生区平均风速和大风日数的减少、主要沙尘源区降水量特别是春季及其前冬降水量的增加以及由于源区降水增加引起的大气和土壤湿润程度的改善。冬春季节气压梯度的减小是风速减小、进而导致沙尘日数减小的关键间接因素。